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I’m writing this early Wednesday morning, trying to post while I still can. The good news is that BART and the freeways going through tunnels will still be operable, and all of San Francisco will remain powered up. But parts of all of the surrounding areas will be affected.

The TV news is fun. They’re warning viewers that home alarm systems won’t be working, so report suspicious activity with your remaining charge on your phone … but the cell towers won’t be working either. The radio has been full of public service announcements.

Our governor feels our pain. He says we should be outraged. At something not specified. I’m outraged at him. He was Lt. Governor for the last eight years and in local government for 20. PG&E is a creature of government with its freedom of action controlled and constrained by government. He is and has been the face of government and this happened on his watch.

Although California has the most expensive electricity in the US, it is delivered with third-world safety and reliability.

The state’s been acting for the past 40 years like the electricity fairies magically bring the power to people’s homes, with no investments required/allowed in upgrading power delivery lines or in acquiring new electric generation sources. But don’t expect the governor or any of the other pols in Sacramento to take the blame for this.

Retail Lawyer: So I’ll post this while I still can. The good news is that BART and the freeways going through tunnels will still be operable, and all of San Francisco will remain powered up. But parts of all of the surrounding areas will be affected.

Today’s cutoff is mainly fire/wind related, but is a good foreshadowing of the priority levels of power supply, were the Golden State (or the entire country) to actually go in on some type of Green New Deal/fossil fuel and nuclear power-ban style energy policy. What power that was available would be allocated to the really important people and things in the core urban areas like San Francisco, while those in the outlying zones, and especially in the rural regions, would be told pretty much it sucks to be you by the local utilities and the politicians, as long as they had faith the people losing power couldn’t vote them out of office in the near future.

Wouldn’t it be great if there were an economical way of getting some of the excess water in the Missouri River system to California? The Midwest is still suffering from last year’s flooding, and levee repairs cannot take place with the river still at flood stage.

I’ll admit that if I were in PG&E’s shoes I’d probably be doing the same thing.

After all, it is being held financially liable for damages caused by wildfires allegedly sparked by its infrastructure, despite the fact that the root causes of those wildfires are myriad.

So think about it: if you were a monopoly and customers had no other place to turn for their power, you have nothing to lose by shutting it off every now and then but potentially billions to lose if you leave it on at just the wrong moment.

This is a golden opportunity for Republicans to gain seats in this state.

I’m sure they’re ill-prepared to use it to their advantage.

One big problem is the fact that PG&E is supposedly a private company.

In reality it it’s so constrained by law and regulatory authorities that it’s really an arm of the state in all but name, but its legal status as a private entity means most Californians (even Republican voters) think of it as a corporation, and thus it just adds more fuel to the “corporations are evil” fire.

It’s really just more proof that public/private hybrids or semi-privatization of previously public services often combines the worst of both worlds and tarnishes the reputation of actual free commerce. In the case of PG&E, I’d probably be in favor of the state retaking it and running it as an arm of the government, since at least then the responsibilities (and blames) would be more transparent.

What are the costs of dealing with wildfires? (i.e. firefighting costs, insurance costs, etc.)

What are the costs of shutting down the power grid to prevent wildfires? (i.e. lost productivity, etc.)

What if they shut down the power grid and wildfires still happen?

If they shut down the power grid and wildfires don’t happen, how does one prove that shutting down the power grid was the crucial factor? How can one know that it’s not just the equivalent of the Tiger-Repelling Rock?

What are the costs of dealing with wildfires? (i.e. firefighting costs, insurance costs, etc.)

What are the costs of shutting down the power grid to prevent wildfires? (i.e. lost productivity, etc.)

What if they shut down the power grid and wildfires still happen?

If they shut down the power grid and wildfires don’t happen, how does one prove that shutting down the power grid was the crucial factor? How can one know that it’s not just the equivalent of the Tiger-Repelling Rock?

The primary thing for PG&E, I believe, is that PG&E not be responsible for any wildfire.

Take the horrible Oakland Hills Fire as a perfect example. We know all about how it started. In short it seems like it was an accident after a controlled burn to prevent such fires. While this reading makes it seem like one cannot even take steps to prevent a wildfire without causing a wildfire, the important point for PG&E must be that PG&E is not responsible for that one.

It’s nice to know that the people running Capitol City will still have plenty of power, and as long as the Districts keep sending in food and the occasional Tribute they can keep having the Hunger Games on a regular basis.

This is a golden opportunity for Republicans to gain seats in this state.

I’m sure they’re ill-prepared to use it to their advantage.

One big problem is the fact that PG&E is supposedly a private company.

In reality it it’s so constrained by law and regulatory authorities that it’s really an arm of the state in all but name, but its legal status as a private entity means most Californians (even Republican voters) think of it as a corporation, and thus it just adds more fuel to the “corporations are evil” fire.

It’s really just more proof that public/private hybrids or semi-privatization of previously public services often combines the worst of both worlds and tarnishes the reputation of actual free commerce. In the case of PG&E, I’d probably be in favor of the state retaking it and running it as an arm of the government, since at least then the responsibilities (and blames) would be more transparent.

Yup, pretty much covers it.

Most of my colleagues are blaming PG&E or consider it “the right thing to do”. Of course, most of the latter still have power.

While I feel sorry for (some) of the people involved, I gotta say, it couldn’t happen to a more deserving place.

This sentiment really grates on me. There are a relative handful of people responsible for this mess. How do 10 million people deserve this? People who moved here recently for jobs, children who were born here, people who have lived here and voted right yet seen their state go the wrong direction?

Count me among these. My wife an I moved to a very rural area a couple years ago and while our neighbors are much more conservative than in the Bay Area we fled, we still have to pay for our state’s dysfunction.

While I feel sorry for (some) of the people involved, I gotta say, it couldn’t happen to a more deserving place.

This sentiment really grates on me. There are a relative handful of people responsible for this mess. How do 10 million people deserve this? People who moved here recently for jobs, children who were born here, people who have lived here and voted right yet seen their state go the wrong direction?

It ain’t a “relative handful” that have ruined California. It’s an enthusiastic majority that keeps putting the clowns in charge.